


Immortal Love

by MorgannaSaphireRaven



Series: A World Reborn [4]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Rifts (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Violence, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26085523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorgannaSaphireRaven/pseuds/MorgannaSaphireRaven
Summary: Raven, A Great Horned Dragon.  Was born and raised during Earth's chaotic period known Rifts.  But circumstances brought her to Gaia to become one of its protectors.  Shan, an unwitting victim in Hojo's Jenova's experiments.  He had come to terms with who he had become and joined with his Cousin, Tseng, as a Turk.  Both were born and breed to be warriors and, for the most part, were solitary creatures.  But fate continued to throw them together and they both learn that love could blossom in the most unexpected situations.
Relationships: Rufus Shinra/Tseng, Shan Akechi/Raven
Series: A World Reborn [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989298
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **Immortal love** is a companion piece to **Worlds collide** and **The Unknown Turk**. Through the friendships, I have made with two very special people (Shan's and Tseng's admins.) My original story had expanded to include the strands I will now write in honour of our friendship.
> 
> Raven is my OC from **The Rifts Earth Palladium** source-book and has been with me for a long time. It has only been recently that I have found a way to incorporate her into my stories.
> 
> I do hope you enjoy this new story that takes place post-DOC and post cannon. As a story truly has no beginning or no end.
> 
>  _Sincerely_ : **MSR**

_Earth Rifts 510 PA* (The year 2996)_

One of the highest peaks of the most Northwestern range of the Rocky Mountains was a deep lair. And in it lived a Great-Horned Dragon.

Raven, lying on top of her horde. She shifted her massive weight to find a more comfortable potion. A moment later, she huffs and sighs and shifts once more. Sending jewels and trinkets sliding down the mountain of treasure she has accumulated over the last few hundred years. She was bored and listless! She no longer felt the need to align herself with the humans of this world and fight a never-ending battle against those who fought for supremacy. The magic of this world has stabilized, and there was nothing new for her to learn. And quite frankly, she was tired of sleeping.

Feeling hunger, she decided to venture out to hunt. Standing and stretching, she spread her wings and glided to the floor of her lair. It was a large and naturally made cavern. She only had to make some minor adjustments, using magic, to smooth the rough edge. And stabilize some weaknesses in the rock formation of the mountain. It was a good and safe home for her as it was also situated in the center were three major Lee-Lines connected. Created a decent-sized Nexus, that she could draw magic energy from. Being a creature born of magic, she needed it to be able to use magic and keep herself healthy.

Raven ambled towards the entrance of her lair, passing the alcove she had created as a shrine to the women who had first befriended her days after her hatching and taken her under-wing and raised her. Enchantress was a mystic and had been fighting the Coalition forces at that time and realized having a Dragon on her side would be a definite advantage. So she coaxed Raven with food and the promise to teach her magic if she joined their party. Being new to the world and hungry, Raven readily agreed. For the next 125 years or so, The two had fought side-by-side to free humanity from the clutches of those who had a stranglehold on the world. Sadly though, Enchantress was still mortal and human, and shortly after turning 150, she closed her eyes for the last time. The Lady's last words to her successor were only to be strong and live on. And all that was hers was passed on to Raven with her last breath. Now all that remained was the portrait of Enchantress, that her husband, Blood Spot had commissioned. The last suit of armour, made from two of Raven's scales (The cost Enchantress insisted upon to learn magic). And the True-Atlantian Mage Staff, Lester. Bowing her head briefly, she passes it and steps out into the light of day.

The air was cold and thin, but so refreshing. The sun dazzling bright and invigorating as it reflected off her Sapphire blue and Emerald green scales. She spread her wings to give balance as she climbed the steep slope of the mountain peak to her perch. Once there, she stretched her wings fully and prepared to launch into the air when she felt the essence of Dragon Master, her chosen God of Light, began to resonate within her. Hunching down, she attunes herself to the realm of eternity, where it is said God's dwell. A moment later, the shimmering presence of two beings appears before her. Odin and Shiva. She arches her eyes in question. "And what do I owe this pleasure to?" She inquired mildly.

They both chuckled at her inquiry. But Odin was the one to answer her question. "You are bored child, and you stagnate by barricading herself within the confines of your Lair and territory. This is not in your nature! You are not living!"

Raven sighed and shook her head as these were the very thoughts that had been plaguing her of late. "I do not care for the stalemate and repetition cycle this world is trapped in! And there is no one I feel a kinship for," She said in defence.

Shiva nodded. "You feel that no matter what you do, it makes no difference, and there is no end in sight?"

Raven nodded in agreement. "Yes," She then sighed deeply.

"Then consider this. We will send you to another planet where your presence can greatly affect the outcome of events that have yet to happen?" Odin inquired mildly?

Raven lifted her head. Her curiosity now peeked, "What would you have me do?"

"Protect those who sleep!" Shiva replied cryptically.

"Oh?" Raven pondered and looked back down to her lair in confusion. The conflict of going and doing something new clashing horrible with her instinctual need of hoarding.

Odin laughed. "Do not worry. When you arrive and are settled. And become grounded in the magic that flows through the planet. You will be able to retrieve that which is yours through dimensional shifting."

At this, she perked up greatly. Her head up; her crest straightened and, her tail twitched in excitement. Although she was almost fully grown, she still was an adolescent. And at times like this, it was apparent to those who knew how Dragons evolved. And had both Diety snickering at her antics. But also, she felt the essence that now resided in her pulsing with approval. And this provided great relief. That Dragon Master also approves of this decision. But then again, there likely wasn't a 'time' or 'place' that he couldn't go to if he wished it.

"I take it; this is agreeable to you?" Odin inquired.

Raven bobbed her head. Her whole body squirming in excitement. Almost like that of an eager puppy being presented with its favourite toy. "Oh, yes, please!"

Laughingly Shiva teased her, "Carefully now, you might fall off the mountain."

Raven scoffed and tossed her head. Stretching her wings once again.

Odin just nodded. And, bringing his hands together in a might clap opened a Rift to the new World.

Eagerly Raven Launches herself into the air and flews straight into the Rift and into a new chapter of her life.

_Gaia [ ν ] - εγλ 0015_

Shan stared at the message he had just got from his cousin Tseng. 'My office now!' 'He's gone.' Not sure who Tseng was referring to, but Shan had a sneaking suspicion who his cousin was referring to, Rufus! So not waiting for the elevator, he tore up the two flights of stairs to the floor where Tseng's office now was.

Things had been really tense between the two since Rufus had returned from his business trip two weeks ago. And Shan wondered if maybe it had come to a breaking point between them. Not that he would laminate the loss of Rufus in Tseng's life. As Shan harboured ill feelings towards the President and technically his employer. But he knew how much Tseng loved the man and how deeply it would affect him if Rufus had truly left him. Not only that but how their break up would ultimately affect the Turks as a whole. So as he entered Tseng's office, he reigned in his emotions and calmly asked, "What's going on, Tseng?"

Tseng was standing in front of the floor to ceiling window that graced his office. Staring out over the new cityscape of Midgar. His phone held limply in his hand. A completely dejected look on his face. He turned to look at Shan. "He left, Shan! He's really gone."

Shan quickly walked over to him and laid his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Easy, Tseng. Tell me what happened."

Tseng sighed, "we've been sort of fighting...! Well, not really. It's just this last business trip took so long and I ... I shouldn't of..., DAMN IT!" Tseng slammed his fist into the desk in frustration because he was unable to articulate what had happened.

Shan quickly led Tseng to a chair and sat him down. He looked awful. Dark circles ringed his eyes. His hair was left completely loose and unkempt. His suit looked as if he slept in it. And Shan could tell that his cousin was holding back tears through sheer force of will. So Shan poured a still shot of brandy and handed it to Tseng. Tseng tossed it back without even flinching. Shan poured a second, which Tseng decided to sip. Shan then poured himself one and sat on the desk in front of Tseng. "Now tell me from the start what happened!"

Tseng to a few more sips and the sighed deeply. "With Rufus being gone so much of late, well, I made a few new friends outside of the Turks" He hung his head. "It was strictly platonic. We go out for a few drinks and shoot pool or play cards... You know normal guy things.." His voice trailed off as he took another sip of his drink. "Well, within moments of Rufus's return, the catty bitches swarmed him filling him in on every nasty non-existent activity that I had done while he was away!" Clenching his free hand into a fist, he grows silent.

Shan was shocked at the bitterness he heard in Tseng's voice. And could tell that Tseng was upset, but he was also angry if he referred to some of the position climbers as 'catty little bitches'. "Ok! But you and I both know this is an ongoing occurrence. So what happened this time" He coaxed in a soothing voice.

"I still think Rufus is dealing with security issues when it comes to him and me... He got all sulky and started to insinuate nasty things..." Tseng seemed to lose the will to comment further.

Now Shan was getting angry. Rufus should know by now that Tseng loves him and only him. And it was these stupid little games that he played that had put such a strain on Shan and Squall's relationship. "What did he say to you?" Shan asked in a deadly calm voice. His eyes had begun to transition to violet, as a side effect of the experiment Hojo had conducted.

Tseng shook his head, "Stupid things, but well, I resorted to staying here late and crashing in my suite to avoid any further arguments." He sighed deeply. "The other night, I went home... I wanted to talk things out. To make him see that he was wrong about his assumptions. We were having dinner... Liz wasn't home... He just acted normally like the strain of the last couple of weeks hadn't happened." Tseng paused, his head jerking in response to an unknown thought. "He suggested what we could do that night, and I just felt numb. I got up and came back here... I should have stayed."

Shan placed his hand under Tseng's chin and tilted his head up to look at him in the eyes, and what he saw almost broke his heart. His cousin truly looked defeated. "Stop it!" Shan growled. "Rufus needs to stop playing these childish games with you! You are both adults for Gaia's sake! Not a couple of lovesick teenagers. We'll send out."

Tseng cut him off "I already have. Reno managed to find out that Rufus was seen leaving the mansion that night around 1100 hours. He was then seen in Edge about 0100 hours. He rented a car. Nobody has seen him since. I contacted the staff at the houses in Kalm and Junon. He isn't at either of them. I even sent a message to Vincent in Neblehiem if he picked up a chopper somewhere, but there has been no sign of him." Tseng voiced hitched a few notches.

Shan nodded, "OK, we spread the word that Rufus got called away unexpectedly, but we won't say where. We'll keep running things as normal here but we will discreetly search for him. There is no need to panic." It was at that moment Tseng lost is tentative hold on his emotions and broke down, and seeing his cousin in this much pain made Shan so angry that he almost got up with the intent of finding Rufus and kicking is ass all the way back to Midgar. Still, he knew no good would come of it, so he bit back the words he wanted to say and comforted his cousin as best as he could.


	2. All Hail the President... Or Not!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a year since Rufus had run away and four months since Raven had come to work for his Company. And tensions still ran high among those employees who knew the truth behind Rufus's disappearance. But at long last, Rufus comes home, and things will never be the same.

_Gaia [ ν ] - εγλ 0016_

Shan stormed into Tseng's office and slammed a folder on his desk. "And when dear cousin, were you going to tell me about this?" He growled.

Tseng looked up from the reports he had been reading to look at the folder. "It's an employee file!" He stated calmly and went back to reading the report in front of him.

"Tseng, don't give me that crap! It isn't just an employee file. It is also confirmation that Rufus is still alive!"

Tseng sighed deeply and leaned back into his chair. "Shan, that was four months ago! And yes, I followed up on it myself if you remember! All that came out of it is we have a very bright and efficient Office Manager."

Shan held up a finger. "But."

Tseng cut him off before his cousin wound himself up. "I did a background check on the young lady. Her name is Raven Lane, and she was born and raised in Gongaga. She moved to Niblehiem about a year or so ago. She had been working in the Inn when her path crossed Rufus. But she, nor any of the townspeople, knew it was him as he has apparently died his hair and taken to wearing contacts."

"Fine, but how are you so sure it was Rufus then!" Shan hissed. His patience for Rufus had worn down to nothing over the course of this last year as he watched his cousin slowly self destruct. Trying to deal with the pain of losing the only man he had fallen in love with by self-medicating himself with alcohol. Tseng had also isolated himself from the rest of the Turks. He no longer associated with them outside of work, and even after moving out of the mansion into a one-bedroom apartment, Tseng still spent most of his time at H.Q. Prowling the halls with no real purpose.

Tseng was tired and frustrated. He didn't want or need to get into another argument with his cousin. but it looked as if Shan wasn't going to let this go. "Miss Raven showed up about four months ago with official documentation and approval for the job. And don't forget, it was your idea to create this job position to reduce the workload that was piling up on my desk and that this position had not yet gone outside the internal network of Shin-Ra Prime! Anyway, I questioned her extensively, and she told me she had met this met who introduced himself as Rudgar and that he had been tasked to finding someone suitable for this potion. She told me he interviewed her for close to an hour, and once he seemed satisfied, he filled out the contract part and had her sign it. He also gave her a month's stipend, Saying that she would be able to get here all the sooner and take up her potion. He also told her that when she arrived here to contact me first."

Tseng, pausing to take a drink of his tea, allowed Shan to interject. "That still doesn't explain how you are so sure it was Rufus."

Tseng glared at his cousin. Family or not, he hated being interrupted. "I was getting to that! When I was informed of her arrival and request for a follow-up interview. I became suspicious. I went through the application a dozen times and ten different ways. It was legitimate! Interviewing her, I confirmed that the man who interviewed her fit Rufus's description perfectly, aside from the hair and eye colour. Even the way he spoke seems to confirm it. But what cinched it, for me, was the name he gave." Here Tseng unbent to chuckle. "When Midgar was being rebuilt. Rufus and I discussed renaming the city. His desire to discard his father's legacy being still paramount during this time. The name Rufus had come up with was Rudgar! Midgar and Rufus. There was no one made privy to this as he was into his cups during that conversation and not something we pursued any further." Tseng arched an eyebrow at his cousin, daring him to comment further.

Shan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "So why isn't he here?"

Tseng looked down at his hands that were now folded in his lap. "Because even though Raven was able to leave immediately. It still took her almost a month of travel to get here. Even though, Reno and I flew directly to Niblhiem that night and questioned the townspeople about this man. It was confirmed that he had only stayed for about two weeks. He just disappeared from the Inn one night, and no one had any clue as to where he went or might have gone. So we hit a dead end." His voice sounding deflated.

Shan stepped around the desk and laid a comforting hand on his cousin's shoulder. "So when are we going to throw the towel in and give up this charade? You can't keep being both the President and the Turks Director! It's killing you."

Tseng looked up at his cousin, his eyes full of sorrow. "When he comes home, Shan! Either alive or dead. There is no other choice. Liz can not assume the potion of President, even with me as a Regent, unless Rufus found dead."

Anger blossomed inside Shan, and the monster within him roared to life. His eyes glowing violet. His teeth became more pronounced, and he snarled viciously. "I'll rip his throat out!" And he turned and stormed out of the office, unaware of the person standing quietly in the corner of the hall with a stack of folders in her arms.

"SHAN!" Tseng cried out and reached for his cousin, but it was too late; he was already gone. He sighed deeply. Tseng knew his cousin well enough that nothing would come out of this outburst. Well, maybe a VR room would be out of commission for a few days, but that was minor in comparison to what he could do. So Tseng got up and poured himself a generous portion of brandy and goes back to the reports he had been reading. Thankful there was no one else around to witness the wetness that trailed down his face.

<\-->

Raven had just stepped off the elevator with the reports that Tseng had asked her to find when Shan stormed into Tseng's office, shouting, "And when, dear cousin, when were you going to tell me about this?" She retreats into the shadowed corner, not wanting to interrupt but curious as to what had gotten this Turk so riled up. As normally, Shan was a very laid back person.

Listening to the conversation and realizing it was about her meeting with Rufus made her wonder if maybe she should have tried to convince the man to return to Midgar with her, but he had been in too much pain. The anger, doubt and anxiety was a palatable thing that radiated from him in waves. So strong were they that Raven was surprised that others hadn't picked up on it. But Rufus had kept to his room at the Inn for the most part and only left when it seemed his moods were more stable.

After arriving in Midgar, she had gone out, from time to time, to see if she could track him. But Rufus was intelligent and had become very adept at disguising himself, and there were only two times she had been able to locate the President. Once in Costa-Du-Sol and more recently in Junon. She concluded he was making is way home. So had kept her silence and added her findings, anonymously, to the reports she now carried.

She was about to step out of her hiding place when the elevator dinged, and the doors open and out stepped the President. And quite frankly, he looked like shit. But he was here and had a very determined look on his face. So Raven stayed in the shadows and watched apprehensively.

<\-->  
Rufus was beyond tired. He had spent the last forty-eight hours travelling non-stop to get home. He had spent the better part of this last year running from the only things that truly mattered in his life. His husband, his daughter and the future they had planned. He was such an ass! But he was sure now, more than sure! This was home, and this is where he wanted to be!

He stepped off the elevator and walked over to Tseng's office. He took a moment to study his beloved. It had been far too long. He saw how tired and drained Tseng looked, and he moaned softly.

Tseng looked up at the small sound and stared in disbelief. "Rufus? Is it really you?"

Rufus nodded. "I'm home! But you must hate me by now?" His voice was full of uncertainty.

Tseng quickly got up from his chair and went over to Rufus. Engulfing him in his arms. "Not at all! I have been waiting for you to return! But I must confess I had begun to lose hope. I thought you had stopped loving me?"

The men retreated inside the office, and Raven, not wanting to be voyeur, quietly stepped into the elevator and headed up to her office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little bit of background for those who have not read Two Hearts as One.

**Author's Note:**

> *PA stands for Post-Apotolytic in the Rifts sourcebook referring to the new calendar used on earth.


End file.
